Mobile payment to be available overseas for Korean consumers

South Korean consumers will be able to use mobile payment overseas through fintech firms next year while domestic mobile platform companies like Samsung Pay will be allowed to offer an overseas remittance service in partnership with foreign money transfer operators.

That’s part of deregulatory and economic stimulation measures determined during a meeting led by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Wednesday.

In Korea, mobile payment services available through Kakao Pay, Payco and other non-financial fintech companies are offered only domestically because foreign exchange business is limited to banks and licensed financial firms.

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The government decided to revise the foreign exchange act to allow non-financial organizations to offer payment services outside Korea from June of next year. Consumers are expected to save fees from using mobile payment services compared to the use of credit cards. When credit cards like Visa and MasterCard are used outside Korea, consumers have to pay a 1 percent transaction fee.

The government also decided to allow Samsung Pay and other Korean mobile platform companies to partner with foreign money transfer operators to offer overseas remittance services on a small amount of money on their platform from March of next year